Coupling-release rigging.



H'. C. BUHOUP'. COUPLING RELEASE RIGGING. APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. m4.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

IOLDIUA WM (0-. Ian-1mm,

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

H. C. BUHOUP.

COUPLING RELEASE RIGGING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. I914.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HARRY G BUHOUP, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

courtm'e annnnsn RIGGING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed'April 16, 1314. Serial No. 832,213.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, HARRY O. BUHOUP, a

, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements 1n Coupling-Release Rigging; andll do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable.

others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

I My invention relates to the construction I of that class of devlces or mechanism, commonly termed release rigging, which are employed for actuating the locking mechanism of car couplers to release or unlock the coupler knuckle so as to permititto rotate to open position.

It is the purpose of my invention to pro-v vide a form of coupler release rigging which is simple, durable, cheap and efiicient,which may operate to automaticallynnlock the knuckle in case the connection of the coupler with the car is disrupted, which "may be quickly and readily locked in a position in which it is adapted to'retain the coupler lockin mechanism in unlocked osition and which may be conveniently actuated either by the-hand orfoot of the trainman. These several objects are accomplished .by the means hereinafter described andparjtic-ularly pointed out in the appended claims defining the scope of my invention.

In the drawings illustrating the best modes in which I contemplate applying my is a plan :v'ieW, of a p coupler release rigging embodying myinvention, showing its relation to a coupler.

invention, Figure l and the end of a car. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the construction shownin Fig. 1-. Fig. Sis a side elevation of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. l is a sectional view taken in the plane of the line 4ei, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail view taken in the plane of the line44, Fig.1, showing the position assumed by the uncoupling lever when the coupler is locked. Fig. 6 isa detail view corresponding to Fig. 5, but illustrating the position assumed by the uncoupling lever when the coupler is unlocked. Fig. 71s

a detail front elevation of the devices illus trated in Figs. 5 and 6, the parts being in the relative positions shown in Fig. 5. i Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 4, but illustrating a modified construction wherein the uncoupling lever is mounted beneath the, end I j I of the car; and Fig. 9 is a detail plan view illustrating a modification of my invention in which the uncoupling lever is formed in one piece.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.

The car body is indicated generally by the reference numeral 1; 2 is the coupler and 3 1s its lockingdevice.

Mounted upon the end of the car, and preferably secured to and projecting outwardly from the end sill a thereof, are two brackets 5 and 6, respectively, which are de-- 'slgnedto recelve and permit the rotation of a transversely extending uncoupling lever 7. If desired, however, and as shown at 5 'in Fig. 8, the supportingbrackets for the uncoupling lever 7 may project downwardly so that the uncoupling lever may be located beneath the end sill 4- instead of in front of it. The opening in each of these brackets for the reception of the uncoupling lever 7 extends farther forward atthe bottom than at the top, or is wider at the bottom than at the top, such construction being for the purpose of permitting the lever to automatically rotate and thereby unlock the coupler should the connection of the latter with the car be disrupted. This automatic unlocking rotation of the uncoupling lever 7 is effected in the following manner: When the couplerQ moves forward after breaking its draft connections the lever 7, being connected to the coupler lock 3, is carried forward and its upper forward edge 7 a is thus brought into contact with the upper portion of the forward, inner wall of one or more of the brackets 5 and 6. The upper edge of the uncoupling lever being thus arrested, the continued forward movement of the coupler 2 causes the lever 7 to rotate upwardly to unlocked position around its edge 7 as an axis, the increased width of base of the opening through the supporting brackets permitting the lower portion of the uncoupling lever to swing upwardly and outwardly, as will be readily understood from aninspection of Fig. 6. By thus automatically causing the uncoupling lever to raise the lock 3 of thecoupler, the coupler 2 is released from its mate andis prevented from being wholly disengaged from the car and dropping to the track.

As it is at times desirable to lock the un- Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

coupling lever 7 in a position corresponding to the unlocked position of the coupler lock 3, it is preferred to provide the bracket or 5*, as the case may be, with a laterally projecting tooth or looking lug 8 which ex tends in the direction-of length of the uni face of the tooth 8 and the upper face of the tooth 9 are' correspondingly inclined, as well coupling lever and which is adapted to supportingly engage a corresponding tooth or lug 9 with which the uncoupling lever 7 is provided. As more particularly shown in Figs. 2 and 7,"the tooth 9 is preferably formed as an integral part of a collar 10 that is riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the uncoupling lever. The latter is capable of sliding through its supporting brackets in the direction of its length sufficiently far to" permit the under face of the tooth 9 to be brought into engagement with, and to be disengaged from the upper face of the tooth 8, thus enabling the uncoupling lever to be quickly locked in uncoupling position and quickly released from such locked position. In order to render it impossible for the teeth 8 and 9 to prevent an uncoupling rotation of the uncoupling lever 7, the'under with an upwardly and forwardly extending crank portion the forwardly projecting end whereof is slotted, as at 7 to receive the lock engaging section 7 c of the uncoupling lever and to permit the latter to oscillate back and forth with respect to the section 7? sufficiently far to accommodate itself to the normal longitudinal movements of the cou pler 2. The inner end ,7" of the lock engagall that is necessary to do being to withdraw ing section of the uncoupling bar preferably extends atright angles to the body of the section 7 and passes through an appropriately formed hole 7? in the lever section 7, the hole 7 i being sufliciently large to permit the play or oscillation of the section 7? in the slot 7 and a cotter 7 g being employed to maintain the integrity of the connection of the lever sections 7 and 7. This construction, it will be noted, is of great advantage, as new couplers or coupler locks may be readily substituted for old or broken ones without the necessity of disturbing the principal section 7 of the uncoupling lever,

the cotter 7 and then remove and replace the lock engaging section 7 of the uncouphng lever. As shown in Fig. 9, however,

an uncoupling lever 11 formed in a single piece may be employed if desired, the cou- V pler lock?) being, in such case, preferably actuated through the intermediacy of a bolt 12 which extends through an elongated slot 11 in the forwardly extending end of the lever 11.

The operating handle 7 of the uncoupling lever is preferably formed as a separate member which'hooks over the outer end of the section 7 of the uncoupling lever and is riveted thereto. As shown more especially in Fig. 3, it is also preferred to provide the uncoupling lever 7 with an operating pedal 7 which extends behind the sillstep 13 in a position permitting it to be conveniently pressed downward by the foot of a trainman while standing on the step. It is, as shown, most convenient to form the operating lever '7 and the operating pedal 7 from a single bar of metal, as the same means thereby suffices to rigidly secure both to the outer section '7 of the uncoupling lever 7. n

I claim: 1. In a coupler release rigging, the combination of an uncoupling lever having a portion of angular cross section, and a bracket therefor, said bracket having an aperture for the reception of the said angular portion of the uncoupling lever and having a surface bounding said aperture which is adapted to be engaged by the upper edge of the uncoupling lever, whereby the lever is caused to rotate automatically upon its upper edge as an axis to effect an emergency release. v

2. In a coupler release rigging, the combination with a rotatable uncoupling lever which is provided with a portion that is of angular crosssection, of a bracket, for supporting said uncoupling lever and in which said lever is rotatable, said bracket being formed with anaperture through which the uncoupling lever extends, and said aperture having its forward wall inclined outwardly and downwardly to constitute means for arresting forward movement of the upper por tion of said uncoupling lever and for permitting the lower portion of said lever to swing upwardly and forwardly.

3. In a coupler release rigging, the combination of means for movably supporting an uncoupling lever, and an uncoupling lever comprised of a plurality of sections, one of said sections having a crank formed with a longitudinally extending portion and with an outwardly extending portion having a slot therein and the other of said sections being pivotally connected tothelongitudinally extending portion of said crank and extending through said slot.

4. In a coupler release rigging, the com bination of means for movably supporting an uncoupling lever, and a rotatable uncoupling lever comprised of a plurality of conend to the crank portion of the section havnected sections one of which is formed with ingthe slot. 1 10 a crank portion, each of said sections having In testimony whereof I affix my signature, its connected end bent at an angle to the axis in the presenceof tWo subscribing Witnesses.

: of rotation of the section, and one of said HARRY C. BUHOUP.

bent ends having a slot through Which the Witnesses: connected section passes, said last named sec- JOSEPH SCHWARTZ, tion being pivotally connected by its bent HARRY JV. STANNARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissiener of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

